castles in the sand
by AGENT Kuma-chan
Summary: The sun scorched Allura's skin, the water chilled her to the bone, and the air was dry on her throat. She had no idea why Keith and Shiro brought her to the beach, but she had a feeling it was connected to torture.


**Title: **castles in the sand

**Characters/Pairings:** Allura, Keith, Shiro

**A/N:** Written for the Summer Lovin' Zine, featuring my favourite three characters.

**Summary:** _The sun scorched Allura's skin, the water chilled her to the bone, and the air was dry on her throat. She had no idea why Keith and Shiro brought her to the beach, but she had a feeling it was connected to torture._

…

…

…

…

Hot. Allura stared at the white sands beneath her feet, her toes digging into the soft, grainy shore. This was nothing like the hard, sweltering deserts of Vogoth 9 and only a little like the giant resort planet of Alestia. An empty bag of chips rolled past her feet. Nope, definitely not like the pristine, clean beaches of Alestia. There the temperature was controlled to a comfortable warm.

Here, all she could feel was the heat. The soles of her feet burned as she stood there, just as her face did from the sun's rays. It was scorching, and as soon as the sensation registered, she leapt back into the shade. Astonished, she turned to Keith and Shiro. "It's hot!"

"Yeah, the sun does that," Keith drawled, amused. He pointed up at the sun. "It is summer."

"Summer?" Allura repeated, the word foreign to her. For once, she understood the difficulties the others had when they first arrived at her castle—it had been years since she had to learn a new language.

Shiro rubbed his neck, considering it. "Maybe your planet didn't have it. Our planet goes through different temperatures depending on what time of year it is."

"This happens every year?" Allura peeked back at the sands, and then at the blazing, hot sun. What a nightmare. Did they have to adjust their crops too? Their houses? A thousand questions bubbled within her but that would have to wait until she saw Pidge again. Keith had never been the most patient teacher and while Shiro was better, she didn't want to bother him too much while he was recovering.

"Every year," Keith confirmed. He looked at the sand, a teasing smile on his lips. "You don't know what sand is either?"

"Of course I do!" Allura huffed at him, indignant. It wasn't like she was born yesterday. Gesturing at the trees around them, she added, "It's just most desert planets don't have plants." She pointed at the sea in front of them. "Or that much water."

"Earth is unique like that," Shiro agreed, stretching his arms behind him. There was an easy smile on his face and he looked relaxed for once. "I noticed a lot of planets seem to be very uniform."

"Land or temperature-wise, most planets tend to stick to one type." Allura stuck her hand out into the sun again. Within seconds, her skin was on fire and she yanked it back. "How long does this last?"

"A few months." Keith rolled his eyes and stepped forward before she could stop him. Laughing at her expression, he held a hand out. "Come on, it won't kill you."

She looked at the sun one last time. Well, if she did die, at least it was warm. Gingerly, she stepped out on the sand, gripping his hand tight as she emerged into the sunlight. Once more, she felt the heat. Focusing on Keith's hand, she waited for something to happen, for that burning sensation to turn into a fire.

Nothing happened. She blinked as her skin only warmed in the heat, the rays feeling less and less hot with each passing second. "Huh."

"Didn't think you were a scaredy cat," Keith taunted.

Allura glared, letting go of his hand. "I'll take you to Vorgon 9 and then we'll see who's scared."

"Guys, try to have fun," Shiro sighed, following them. He shielded his eyes with a hand. "Save it for later."

"Fine." Her eyes darted from one paladin to the other before finally asking the question that had been niggling in her mind for so long. "Why are you both shirtless?"

Keith looked down at his red shorts, at Shiro's black ones, and then back at her. "Beach wear. For swimming."

"You swim in that?" Her brow rose, there was no way that was safe.

"It's fine, we're safe." Shiro eyed her own outfit, puzzled. "Why are you wearing a spacesuit?"

"You told me to bring something to _swim_ in." She wrinkled her nose in contempt at their outfits, proudly modeling her own skin-tight suit. Light pink, since even in their most relaxed, they couldn't escape paladin colours. Maybe Coran was tossing away anything that didn't match the colour scheme—she wouldn't put it past him. "I can dive fairly deep in this."

"Yeah…we're not really diving here," Keith muttered before giving up with a shrug. "Maybe Pidge can help you next time."

By now, her feet were well adjusted and boldly she walked toward the water. The shore stretched out as far as her eye could see, and she could smell salt in the air. Blue waves crashed on shore, sea-foam spraying against her skin. She loved the feel of the cool droplets and perhaps this 'summer' wasn't as terrible as she feared. Even the breeze was warm, ruffling her hair as she pushed back her bangs. The sand was harder here, damp from the waves, and she walked into the sea.

Only to recoil once more. "It's cold!"

"You're going to do that to everything?" Keith snorted, his shoulders shaking as she danced out of the waves reach.

Shiro was just as bad, barely holding in his laughter. "It's her first time."

"It is not." Allura puffed her cheeks, put out. "It's just the temperatures here are quite extreme."

"Welcome to Earth," Keith drawled and dodged her indignant sand-ball throw. Laughing, he ran as she chased him, Shiro tagging behind in a slow jog.

Allura was barely able to keep her balance, her feet slipping on the uneven sand with each step. It was even worse with all the people lying on the ground, almost daring her to step on them. She was going to twist an ankle avoiding them. Keith and Shiro didn't seem to have any such problems, and gritting her teeth, she stubbornly kept running. If they could do it, so could she. Even better than—she started to fall backwards, the sky filling her sight.

"Allura!" Shiro quickly caught her, his arms hooking underneath her arms. He looked down at her, blocking the sun. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." At his concern, her anger ebbed away. She shot a glare at Keith as he jogged back, worried.

"It's hard to run," Keith admitted, rubbing his neck as Shiro steadied her. He held out his hand, looking apologetic. "Truce?"

Before she could begrudgingly shake his hand, Shiro intercepted. "In times like these, there's one way to bury the hatchet." When they both stared at him in confusion, he grinned and pointed at the water. "Water fight."

Allura grimaced—how did humans enjoy that cold? On the shoreline, children played, and she wasn't sure if that was some level of madness on their part or if people just had thick skin. Actually, considering the paladins, maybe they did.

"Maybe next time." Keith backed away, shaking his head.

All of her hesitation vanished instantly and she smiled broadly. "Oh no, if this is an Earth custom, then by all means we should do it."

"Allura." Keith glowered at her, but Shiro was behind him now, propelling him to the water.

"Come on, Keith, let's show Allura how it's done." He ignored Keith's protests—even if Keith had aged two years and grown taller, he was no match for Shiro. Within minutes, they were standing in knee deep water.

Allura covered her mouth, trying to hold back her laughter. Keith looked all the world a bedraggled cat, and Shiro was tugging him even deeper into the water. Quickly, she approached the shoreline. Biting her lip, she let go of her reservations and plunged into the water after then, running to catch up. The cold shocked her at first, her legs shivering as she went deeper and deeper. Gods, it was frigid.

"If you get your head wet, it'll feel warmer," Shiro suggested. His hands firmly pressed on Keith's shoulders when he tried to run away, pinning him in place. "Alright, Allura, you get first splash."

Waist deep now, she hesitantly held her hands in front of her. "You'll get splashed too."

Shiro shrugged. "It's fine. I laughed too."

"Just get it over with," Keith mumbled, a deadpan expression on his face as he braced for the worst.

Her eyes darted from Shiro to Keith, her hands slowly dipping into the water. "Alright then, if you're sure."

When they didn't say anything, she made a splash so big, it towered over their heads for a moment before crashing down. For a moment, she thought she heard Shiro swear but then the water drowned out his words entirely. Actually, the water might have just drowned him literally—when the water calmed down, she couldn't see either Keith or Shiro. "Oops."

-x-

"How are you able to splash so hard?" Keith had his eyes closed as he lay on the sand. His chest heaved as he panted tiredly. "I didn't think Alteans were _that_ much stronger than us."

"Well, you both weren't too bad yourselves." Allura glanced down, sitting next to him. She wasn't sure if lying down was such a good idea—the sand seemed to get practically everywhere. Shiro was sitting on her other side, his hands scooping the sand as they dried up.

"With my arm and your Galra blood, I don't think it's really fair to compare any of us to a normal person." Shiro patted the sand into a small mound.

"You were just as surprised by that first splash," Keith muttered, sitting up now. Sand clung to his hair, slowly trickling over his shoulders, and Allura sighed.

"Here, let me." She reached over and dusted his hair, running her hand through his locks till the worst of it came out. Even then, stubborn particles stuck to his scalp like a second skin. "How do you get this sand out? It's everywhere!"

"Honestly, we're not." Keith obediently moved his head, giving her better access as she tried to clean the other side. "You're going to find sand for months."

She glanced at Shiro for confirmation and he gave her a sad smile. Well, it couldn't be as bad as that time Hunk got glitter all over the control panel. It had been almost a year and she could still find shiny flakes.

Nearby, a child was sculpting sand, a bigger scale than Shiro's tiny hills. It looked like a miniature castle, edges crumbling as the child patted the sand. "That is impressive."

"What?" Shiro followed her line of sight. His expression brightened. "Let's make a sand castle."

"Sand castle," Allura repeated. So that's what it was called. She had made similar things as a child with mud, to various degrees of success. Excited, she pulled back from Keith, turning to Shiro. "Let's do it."

Keith got up, stretching his arms above him. "I'll go for a swim."

"Spoilsport," Allura chided. Remembering his earlier jokes, she smirked. "Is it because you cannot make one?"

Disdain dripped in his voice. "Allura, I'm not five."

"Even five-year-olds can make a sand castle, so I suppose that is true." Allura's smirk grew even broader. Despite his sudden age spurt, there were a few things Keith had never really mastered. Patience, for one. The ability to ignore taunts for the other. It was the reason Lance always got under his skin and Allura was very observant of what made him tick.

Keith clenched his jaw. From his stance, he was fighting himself, that side of him that knew it was a trick losing to the side that couldn't back down from a challenge. It would take just one more push, a small poke, and he'd give in. "I'll call one of them over to take your place."

"Alright," Keith growled, sitting back down on the sand. "I'll show you a sandcastle."

"Wait, what?" Shiro stared at the pair as they both started digging furiously in the sand. They both paid him no mind and he rubbed his forehead with a sigh. "Isn't this a little childish?"

"Just start building," they both shouted in unison before glaring at each other.

"Guys, come on. You're scaring the kids." Shiro gestured at the group of children that started to crowd around them, curious at the spectacle.

"Nah, this is cool!" a boy yelled, hopping in the sand excitedly.

Beside him, a little girl nodded eagerly. "Even my dog doesn't dig that fast!"

"Really." Shiro rubbed his forehead harder, his headache growing stronger. Piles of sand grew around him at an alarming rate and he wasn't sure if it they were competing with each other or just trying to build the world's biggest sand castle. Distracted, he didn't notice the hoard of children approaching him until it was too late. Tiny hands pushed him backwards, onto the sand, and the last thing he saw before he hit the ground was Allura's commanding stare as she ordered her troops to build a solid foundation.

Then it started to rain sand all over him. As the children started to bury him, he yelled, "Not the face!"

-x-

"I can't believe you buried me." Shiro glared at them grumpily, brushing as much sand off his head as possible. He didn't want to imagine just how much he had swallowed when the pair had started to create a sand castle on top of him, the children egging them on.

"Sorry." Allura smiled sheepishly, rubbing her arm. "I got a little…excited there."

"A little," Shiro repeated, crossing his arms.

"A lot," she corrected, turning redder by the second.

"I should have stopped her, sorry." Keith's apologetic tone did not match his entirely unrepentant face.

Disgruntled, Shiro shot them both a dirty look as he continued to dust himself off. In front of them, the sun had set, the last rays of light starting to fade. Had they really spent the whole day here? Around them, whatever people were left were packing up and leaving, closing umbrellas and rolling up blankets.

Allura wiped her brow, grimacing as sand scraped her face. A bath, a hot bath, would hopefully fix most of this. "Shall we?"

"Soon." Shiro clapped his sandals together, removing any excess sand. Slipping them on, he started to jog back to the parking lot. "I need to grab something from the Jeep first."

As they watched him disappear, Keith pointed at her diving suit. "Is that warm?"

Allura nodded, patting the sleek material. "It can withstand freezing temperatures from Hogoth. I just need to put on my flippers."

"Good." Keith rubbed an arm. "It gets chilly here at night."

Now that he mentioned it, she could feel the difference on her face, her hands, her feet. A shiver ran up her spine and she crossed her arms. "Really, this place is full of extremes."

He glanced at her and chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so. We should take you snowboarding."

Now that was something she recognized. "I know what snow feels like. I've been to Hogoth."

"Right." Keith blinked in surprise before giving a mischievous grin. "Know it like you knew what sand was?"

She swatted at him, scowling. "Better than that."

He raised his hands in defense. "Got it, got it."

She relented as Shiro came back, two big bags in his hand. Setting one down in the sand, he held out the other to the pair. "Let's change first—if we come back sick, Coran will have my head."

"At least he'd try to," Allura agreed, pulling out her own clothes. When she returned from the change room, she found a blanket spread across the sand and Shiro holding two jackets. A few paper plates laden with fruits and other snacks were arranged in the center of the blanket, as far from the sand as possible. All in all, it was surprisingly thoughtful, so Allura was a hundred percent certain that Keith did not come up with this at all. Gratefully, she took one. "Thank you."

"No problem." Shiro put one on.

It was starting to get chilly now, a cool breeze blowing off the water. The night had fallen quicker than she'd expected, and suddenly the bright beach was dark and mysterious. Behind them, Keith was setting up a telescope. She hadn't seen one since she was a child and she felt giddy as she approached him. "Stargazing, is it?"

"It's harder to see them near the city, so it's better to try here." He spared her a glance before returning to the scope, slowly adjusting the position and zoom.

Looking above them, she gasped in surprise. Above her, a thick river of stars ran across the sky, drawing her eye as much as the half-crescent moon did. Nothing unusual, really, she had seen more and better skies on other planets. Yet it had been a long time since she'd been able to just sit there, to stare without thinking up battle plans or worrying about the future. "Stunning."

"It's nice, isn't it." Shiro stood next to her, pointing at a bright star to their right. "That's the North Star there, Polaris."

"Polaris," she repeated, liking the name. From here, neither the stars nor the planets looked familiar. It made sense, they were far from the skies she knew best.

"It's set." Keith straightened up, rolling his shoulders back before gesturing at her to look into the telescope. "All yours."

Allura raised a brow, confused. When he didn't say anything else, she tentatively pressed her eye into the scope, not sure what to expect. The telescope was pointed at a small patch of sky, a small blue dot in the center of focus. Small stars twinkled around it, but it did not. "A planet?"

"Yeah." Shiro had a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "I know it can't make up for what you lost, but I thought you wanted to see it."

His words explained nothing. Her expression grew more quizzical and Keith rubbed his neck, looking up at the sky uncomfortably. "It's Altea."

Her eyes widened and Allura looked back into the scope, at that small blue dot that brightly burned. "Altea?" Her voice was no more than a whisper, a gasp, this was her home, this small piece that remained.

"Even now, its light shines to us." Shiro's hand was warm, was heavy, was grounding and she reached up to grab it, her eyes still firmly glued to the scope.

The blue burned to brightly and she wondered how long ago that light had left her planet. If she could see closer, would she see herself? Her father? A time where nothing could go wrong, where everything was perfect. An innocent light, unaware of impending destruction. Her eyes watered, her sight blurry, and hastily she wiped her tears.

"Here." Keith squeezed her hand, passing her a tissue box. "Should we leave you for a bit?"

"No, it's fine." Looking from one to the other, she grabbed them both and hugged them, almost knocking over the telescope. "Thank you, thank you so much."

"It's nothing." Shiro rested his hand on her back. "We'll bring Coran next time, I'm sure he'll want to see it too."

"Definitely." She wiped her eyes, giving them a watery smile. "Though you might need more tissues."


End file.
